


A very Negan trip

by NaganSavior



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Airplanes, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Fluff, Multi, Negan Being Negan (Walking Dead), Sweet Negan (Walking Dead)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:01:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 14,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24525820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NaganSavior/pseuds/NaganSavior
Summary: Daryl , Rick and the kids decide to go on a much needed vacation but they happen upon Negan,Dwight and Simon that have the same idea. Naturally they hate each other but a snowstorm that shuts all flights will force them to spend their Christmas together with unexpected results.
Relationships: Carl Grimes & Judith Grimes, Carl Grimes/Negan, Daryl Dixon/Negan, Daryl Dixon/Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon/Rick Grimes/Negan, Rick Grimes/Negan
Comments: 48
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

"Everyone ready?" asked Rick excitedly. 

"Yeah dad we have taken the whole house with us" said Carl as he looked at the five large suitcases by the entrance. 

It was just Rick, Carl and Judith plus his father's best friend, Daryl. 

"I'm not sure if I've taken everything Judith will need" told him Rick worryingly. Being a single father could be very overwhelming sometimes. 

"New York will have everything dad, if she needs something we can get it for her" said Carl trying to calm him down. 

The doorbell rang and Rick hurried to open. 

"Hey buddy" told him Daryl with a smile "are you guys ready?"

Rick eyed Daryl's small suitcase and then their five. 

"Yeah we are" answered he eventually. "Come on guys we have to go to the airport if we don't want to miss our flight"

He picked up Judith who was giggling and Carl got his backpack with Marvel Comics to read on the plane. 

He managed to squeeze their things in the car and he got in as Carl was securing Judith to her seat. 

Rick got in the drivers side of the car and looked at everyone. He was very happy they had managed to organize this trip. They all needed a getaway and there was nothing more magical than Christmasy New York. 

"Let's go guys" he told them as he started the car. 

The airport was very busy but they managed to find everything. They checked in their suitcases and went to their gate. Soon enough they opened the doors for them to enter the airplane. 

Rick checked their tickets. Only the three were seated together and one would have to sit some rows in the front. Carl agreed to sit alone, either way he had headphones and comics to occupy himself. 

Him, Daryl and Judith got comfortable to their seats. 

"I'm glad we are doing this, I really wanted to get away" told him Daryl. 

"Same man" answered Rick "we are gonna have a great time" 

"Holly hell" someone exclaimed loudly behind him "look what we've got here!"

Rick and Daryl turned their head around to see a tall, thin man looking at them with a big smirk. He was wearing black jeans, a leather jacket and a white T-shirt. His hair was also black and he had a salt and pepper beard. 

"Excuse me ,are you talking to us?" asked Rick as he raised his eyebrow at this guy's language. 

"Of course I am" told him Negan as he continued smirking "looks like you've have occupied our seats"

Rick got the tickets out and these were their seats

"Maybe you are mistaken sir. The tickets say that these are our seats" said Rick. 

"Oh I'm sorry, are you trying to lecture me?" said Negan. 

Rick frowned and looked at Daryl. 

"I'm not sir, I'm just saying you that you are not correct when you are saying we've taken your seats"

"Is everything ok here boss?" asked a man with a big moustache and grey hair. Behind him there was a guy with blonde hair and both of them were looking at Rick and Daryl with newfound interest. 

"Boss?" thought Rick "who were these guys?"

"No, but it will be. Looks like they want to go against us" told them Negan "that's not gonna pass though, right?"

"Damn right" told him Simon. 

Judith sensed a tension between them and started crying. 

"Shh baby" told her Rick as he hugged her and gave Negan and his buddies a mean glare. 

"I would leave if I were you" he threatened. 

"Look at that, baby daddy got mad" said Negan mockingly as Dwight and Simon laughed. 

"Shut your mouth" Daryl intervened. He was always one that avoided confrontations but this guy got him outraged. Insulting his best friend like that. Who he thought he was? 

Negan looked at him and licked his lips. 

"Please get seated" told them a flight attendant "the plane is about to leave"

"They have stolen our seats" told her Negan giving them an angry glare. 

"Let me see your tickets sir" said the flight attendant. 

He, Dwight and Simon got their tickets out. She looked at them as Negan kept watching Daryl and Rick with a look that promised violence. 

"These are not your seats sir" told him the flight attendant "come with me"

Negan couldn't believe he got their seats wrong but he wouldn't admit it in front of these guys. 

"We will be seeing you" he told them in a threatening tone as he, Dwight and Simon passed by them looking down at them. 

Rick hugged Judith tighter to control himself and not go to punch them right square in the face. 

"What the hell was that?" asked Daryl. 

"I really don't know" drawled Rick equally confused and angry "we won't ruin our trip because of them"

The flight attendant guided them to their seats. Negan and Dwight were seated right next to each other and Simon was in the front of the plane. At the seat by the window there was a teenager sitting that had his headphones on and was reading a comic book about Spiderman. 

"Didn't know that the whole Kindergarten was on the plane" said Negan sarcastically to Dwight as he laughed as well. 

This flight was gonna be fun.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been only ten minutes since the plane had taken off and Negan was bored out of his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about these guys some rows back that had dared to go against him. Who knew, maybe they were going to New York as well. Once they were out of the airport there would be noone to protect them from his wrath. His mind traveled to the many possible violent ways he could take his payback. He had a lot of time to think of something and be creative. He considered killing them but the blue eyed guy had a baby, it was a shame to leave her without a father plus that would ruin his own holidays. 

Dwight was texting his super hot wife, Sherry ,so he couldn't consult with him. He looked at the teen beside him who hadn't been paying them any mind. Something about him fascinated Negan. He was wearing blue jeans, a T-shirt and a grey checkered shirt on top of that. He also had long brown hair. Not your usual American teenager for sure. He had his headphones on and was very interested in that superhero comic. Negan looked down and saw that his backpack was open and inside were a lot more comics. He could read a couple to pass his time. He leaned a bit and got out 5 of them. The first one had a cover of Deadpool. Negan smirked "some stuff for adults" he thought. He liked Deadpool for his sense of humor, it was as sarcastic and black as his. He opened it and started reading. 

Carl was very occupied with reading his comic that he didn't even notice the guys that were siting next to him. The one next to him was around his 50s and the other guy was 30 something. Carl suddenly noticed what the guy beside him was reading. Was that-? He looked more closely and saw Deadpool in the front. He checked his bag and half his comics were missing. Was this guy for real? He had stolen his comics from his own backpack! They may were comicbooks but this was still stealing. 

He removed the headphones and closed the comic he had been reading. He crossed his arms and looked at the guy next to him, who was still reading and laughing occasionally. Carl waited for him to notice him, but the dude was paying him no mind at all. Carl started getting very angry and the ignorance of the guy was pissing him off even more. 

"Excuse me" he almost yelled at him. 

Negan was still with a laugh and looked at him seeing him looking angry. 

"Did you just stole my comics?!" Carl demanded. 

Negan laughed at the kid. He was adorable with his angry glares. 

"I borrowed them" he answered like this made it all justified. 

"These are MY comics" bit Carl back "give them back!" 

Negan looked at him with a smirk. 

"Relax little serial killer, they are just comic books"

"If I start shoutting, you are gonna regret it" threatened Carl very angry. 

Dwight stopped texting and looked at the kid as well. 

"Well pardon me young man, excuse the shit out of my goddamn' French, but... Did you just threaten me?" said Negan with a huge grin. 

Carl swallowed dryly looking at this guy and his friend. He was all alone and they were two. He could start screaming but it was his word against theirs. 

Negan saw that he wasn't talking back and smirked. 

"No threatening us" he told him as he continued reading Deadpool. Carl was fumming. He just wanted his things back. Maybe by the end of the flight he could recover them.

The hour passed and soon the flight attendants came by everyone to ask what they wanted to eat and drink. Carl glared angrily as Negan and his friend ordered and after them he tried to smile a bit and said what he wanted. Soon they came back and gave their food and drinks. Negan devoured his own like he hadn't eaten in ages. Carl was giving him side glares of disgust. He took his time to eat and there was a delicious chocolate cupcake left to eat from his disk. 

He went to take it and Negan grabbed it from him. 

"Hmm delicious" he moaned as he tasted it slowly to show off to Carl who was looking at him like he was about to cry. 

He turned his face to look out of the window, to not show how hurt he actually was. He wished he could be with his Dad, sister and Daryl some rows behind. Instead he was stuck with this sadistic dude who found pleasure in making a kid feel bad.


	3. Chapter 3

"Attention ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, please get seated as very shortly we will be landing to Orlando,Florida. Please follow airport directions in case you have follow up flights. Me and the crew wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year"

"Finally" said Negan as he stretched in his seat "this flight was forever"

"True" answered Dwight "two more hours and we will be landing to New York"

Carl had his headphones on but wasn't listening to anything, just to spy what the guys next to him were saying and he groaned internally. 

So they were going to New York as well? That meant they were going to be in their next flight. How would he survive two more hours with them on the plane. He wished he was seated elsewhere on the next plane. He didn't even notice that Negan had leaned close to him and was trying to hear what he was listening to. 

"Spying on us huh?" he told him with his trademark smirk. 

"What?" asked Carl looking at him pretending to be clueless. 

"You have headphones on but you are not listening to something" answered Negan with a shrug. 

Carl removed his headphones and tossed them to his backpack angrily as he looked at him. 

"What is your problem?" he demanded. 

Negan raised his hands up in mock surrender. 

"Jeez relax kid, he is very uptight, isn't he?" he asked Dwight, who hummed in agreement. "Live a bit, you are no fun at all"

"I'm not in the mood when people go stealing and insult me" spat Carl. 

"Not my problem if you can't defend your so called belongings" answered Negan "You never told me where your parents are"

"Why should I?" questioned Carl raising his eyebrow at him. He didn't wish his dad to meet this guy. 

"I want to meet the people who raised you and give them some advise"

"What do you know about raising kids?" If this guy had a kid, he pitted that poor boy or girl that had been so unlucky to have him as a father. He bet he would turn them into bullies as well. 

"Oh you would be surprised" told him Negan smuggly. 

"Maybe you should jump out of the plane, to save my dad time from hurting you if he finds out what you did" threatened Carl.

Negan looked at him stunned by the boldness of this kid. Not many had the balls to go against him like that. 

"Damn!" he let out excitedly "This is the kid that impressed the hell out of me!"

"If you knew my family, you would stay away from us" told him Carl ,done with their "conversation".

The plane started losing height fast and soon the captain landed it smoothly to the ground. The passengers cheered and clapped to show their support to the captain but Carl wasn't even in the mood to do so. He just wished they let them out soon so he could be with his family. 

"I want my comics back" he demanded. 

Negan just glared at him seemingly bored. 

"What are you going to do to get them back?" he questioned, curious to see how far the kid would be willing to go.

Carl was dumbfounded. Was this guy for real? 

"Just messing with ya kid" he bursted out laughing as he saw his look of disbelief "Here ,you can have your comics back, except from the Deadpool one. I liked this one" as he handed him his comic books back. 

Carl took the comics without saying a word. At least he got back most of them. He never liked Deadpool this much so he didn't really care that this guy decided to keep it. He just wanted him out of his hair as soon as possible. 

Everyone started to get up and gather their things to depart. 

Negan stood up and loomed over Carl. 

"Well kid, it was a pleasure to meet you" he smirked at him. 

"Mine wasn't" answered Carl as he frowned. 

"He is just adorable" he said to Dwight. 

"Be seeing you kid" Dwight gave him a nod as he and Negan went to find Simon and get out of the plane. 

Carl stayed glued to his seat, just looking at them walking away. 

"Hey" he heard someone talking to him. He snapped out of it and looked around to see his father, Daryl and Judith. 

"Everything good?" questioned his father as he saw him acting a bit off. 

Carl let out a sigh and got up. 

"Yeah" he said eventually to not worry him "everything good"


	4. Chapter 4

They had fourty minutes to spend until their next flight, so Daryl, Rick and the kids decided to go drink something at one of the airport's cafes. Him and Daryl got two coffees and the kids orange juice. 

"Two more hours and we will be landing to New York" told them Daryl with a smile on his face. 

"Can't wait" answered Rick excitedly "we are gonna get to the hotel to get comfortable and then out for walks and exploring, right Judith?" he gave her a kiss on the head. 

Carl was sipping his orange juice looking kinda gloomy. 

"What is wrong Carl?" asked Daryl as his father looked at him as well. 

Carl saw them looking at him. 

"Nothing, just a bit jet lagged I guess"

"Drink up the juice" told him Rick "before it loses it's vitamins"

Carl rolled his eyes at that. Rick had taken over his mother's part as well since she passed away. 

His mind was still on that dude from the airplane but he decided that if he worried about it, it would do him no good. It was just a comic, New York was a city that loved superheroes. He could find comic stores and get as many as he wanted. 

\---  
"There was a lady snoring in my ear the whole damn flight" complained Simon as Negan and Dwight laughed. "How was it for you?"

"Well Dwight had been talking non stop to Sherry" Negan told him as Dwight's cheeks redened a bit "and I met an adorable kid that was sitting right next to me"

"Bullied the teen" he means "intervened Dwight. 

" I didn't bully him" said Negan exasperated "just messed up with him for a bit"

"Dude you ate his cupcake" said Dwight "He looked like he was about to cry"

"Really??" asked Simon raising his eyebrow. Negan looked a bit embarrassed. 

"He was just fine" he told them although he knew he was kinda of an asshole to the kid "doubt he really wanted it, the kid was just a pile of bones, did you look at him?" 

He looked out of a big airport window and he saw small pieces of snow starting to fall. Oh it was starting to look a lot like Christmas. They had ten minutes since the plane was due to depart and they decided to go find their gate. 

\---  
Rick, Daryl and the kids were at a corner of a very crowded departure area. They had been there for twenty minutes and there was no sign of their airplane. Many people had started complaining. 

"Ladies and gentlemen of flight 4506 we inform you that due to a snowstorm close to the city of New York your flight can not take place due to safety reasons. Please get information on your refunds and rescheduling your flight. We are sorry for your inconvenience"

"What?!" said Rick as he looked outside. Here it barely had some snow falling , how could there be a snowstorm out of nowhere. 

Everyone around them seemed pissed off by the news. Noone in the news had said something about a snowstorm. 

Rick looked at Daryl and the kids who were very disappointed. What would they do now? 

"I will go to speak to someone from the airport. There may be something we can do" said Daryl hopefully. 

Rick gave him a nod as he sighed and dropped himself to a chair. He hugged Judith tight against his chest. 

"What are we gonna do Dad?" asked Carl very disappointed. 

"I have no idea" he answered "if there are no flights to New York we are stuck here until they allow them again"

"Damn! " someone exclaimed behind Carl. "Well, LOOK. AT THAT!" making some people close to them jump scared. 

Carl groaned internally. It couldn't be-

"It all makes sense now" he said like he had solved something very important to the human kind. 

Carl turned around and saw the guys from the plane. 

"What are you talking about?" Rick demanded, as he stood up. He didn't trust them around his kids. 

"This your boy?" asked Negan delighted. 

"Yes, you got a problem?"

"We got to know your kid on the flight" intervened Dwight "he was sitting right next to us"

Carl looked down to hide his embarrassment. He didn't want to say what had happened between them. 

His father was angry though. 

"Hi, I'm Negan" told him the stranger smuggly "this is Dwight and the other guy you saw on the plane is Simon. And you are...?"

Rick shot him a calculating glare as he re adjusted Judith. 

"I'm Rick" he spat out "these are my kids, Judith and Carl and the guy you got mad on the plane, is my friend ,Daryl"

"Wow that actually sounds right!" said Negan as he leaned backwards. "What kind a boy you raised Rick? A little serial killer" he mocked as he messed with Carl's hair. 

"Don't see your lady somewhere" he continued "Did she leave the kids to you for some boyfriend?" he laughed. 

Rick gave Judith to Carl and got close to his face. 

"Stay the hell away from my family" he ordered. Negan dropped the smile and got ready for a fight. The airport security was looking at them. 

"Hey" intervened Dwight "we are all friends here. Let's relax, shall we?"

"Take your friend and leave us alone" he told him as he looked Negan straight in the eyes. 

Negan let out a chuckle. 

"Enjoy your vacations" he told them as he turned his back and left. Dwight looked at Rick conflicted as he left to follow Negan. 

"What happened?" asked Daryl as he saw them upset. 

"Nothing" answered Rick,he didn't want to talk about these guys any longer "what did they tell you?"

"We can go to New York after Christmas. They won't allow any flights due to the bad weather"

"Just great..." muttered Rick.


	5. Chapter 5

They gathered their suitcases and stood by the airport entrance not knowing what to do. 

"What are we going to do now?" questioned Carl. 

Orlando didn't have many things to offer and it definitely wasn't Rick's ideal vacation city but all that mattered was the kids to have fun. Suddenly he came up with an idea. 

"How about we stay at Universal Orlando Park?" he said. They had never been to it and kids were gonna love it. 

"Isn't that park like expensive...?" questioned Carl. 

"We can get half our money back from the hotel in New York and get tickets for the park and stay inside"

"It is a good idea" said Daryl "we are gonna have fun until we can go to New York"

"Settled then" said Rick with newfound joy. The kids would love it and they deserved some fun. He wasn't the dad who could usually take his kids out for movie nights or playgrounds. He wanted to offer them this experience. 

"We have to rent a car and we are good to go" he said as they went in search of a rent agency. 

\---  
"Dude you are acting like you are obsessed with this family" told him Dwight as they walked away. 

"I'm not" said Negan grumpily. 

"Forget about them, they are just a bunch of nobodies" he told him to fix his mood. 

"You are right" sighed Negan "after all we have bigger problems" referring to the announcement about the weather. They went to find Simon who had picked up their suitcases. 

"There goes our vacation in New York" told them Simon as he scratched his moustache. 

"Yeah" said Dwight disappointed "but at least we can be there for New Year's Eve"

"The problem is what are we going to do until then" said Simon. 

Negan looked around trying to think of something when suddenly he saw a banner. 

"Look!" he said in excitement. 

"See what?" questioned Dwight and Simon as Negan showed them the banner that advertised the park. 

"We can go to Universal park" told them Negan. 

Simon and Dwight looked each other. 

"Isn't this park like for kids?" questioned Dwight. 

"It's for adults as well. It's gonna be great, I'm telling you. They have a bus for 10$ that takes you there"

Since they didn't have a better idea, they agreed with Negan. An amusement park was better than nothing. Plus it might be better in two days that was Christmas. It should be fun until they could go to New York. 

\---  
"Wow it looks awesome" said Carl as he was checking out the park online on his smartphone. 

"Told you so" said Rick as he was driving their rented car "we will find a nice hotel and we are gonna have a good time"

Daryl and Carl agreed. Maybe the flight cancellation wouldn't suck as they originally thought.


	6. Chapter 6

Rick, Daryl and the kids purchased their tickets for the park and went to search for a nice and affordable hotel. The park had seven hotels and after going to see the most of them they decided to stay in one called "Aventura Hotel" that wasn't too expensive and was close to the attractions. 

"That is awesome" said Daryl as they opened their room's door. It had two single beds and a double but everything was spacious and the view was also great as there were many trees and nature surrounding the hotel. 

It was close to noon and they decided to go eat something. Carl and Judith were looking around very excitedly. They couldn't wait to go play something from the games. The missed flight was just an afterthought now, not to mention these guys from the flight. They happened upon Pizza Planet. 

"Wow!" said Carl in amazement "This looks exactly like in the movie, can we go eat here?"

"Sure" answered Rick with a smile "who can say no to a pizza, I mean come on?"

"Especially an intergalactic one" joked Daryl. 

Two robots were guarding the door and as soon as they approached them they said "Welcome to pizza planet" as the automatic door opened. 

The restaurant was quite busy but they managed to find a table and they looked around. The roof had stars, moons and galaxies that were glowing and in the middle of the room was a big see through spaceship with a big claw like in the movie. 

They were going to have a great time and noone would get in the way of that. This place was perfect for Rick's kids. Judith was babbling happily as she looked around and Carl looked happy as well. It was also an opportunity to spend some quality time with Daryl since he had been through several difficult situations and this trip would take their minds off their problems. They ordered two large pizzas and discussed how they would be spending their time in the park. 

\---

"You said what?!" exclaimed Negan angrily. It was the fourth hotel they were visiting and the prices they told them were outrageous. 

"Sherry is gonna kill me if I spend this much money" drawled Dwight. 

"Relax guys" Simon tried to be the logical one and not panic "there has to be a hotel with less money"

They walked to the next one. 

"This should definitely cost less" he told them and he was right. 

They checked in and went to their room. Negan and Dwight dropped to their beds as soon as they walked in. 

"Hey" said Simon "are we gonna sleep or go out?"

"So much for being "just for kids" said Negan with a chuckle at Simon's eagerness 

"Oh shut up" answered Simon as he threw him a cushion in the face. 

Negan and Dwight laughed and got up. They could sleep in later all they wanted. 

They walked around as every corner had something else to explore. Suddenly a voice made them turn their heads. 

"Decepticons, your leader ,Megatron, orders you to raise again and we will take revenge on Optimus Prime"

A couple meters away from them was a Transformers attraction and there was a huge robot that played the villain of the movies, Megatron. 

Megatron's eyes focused on Negan as he walked towards them.

"You seem like you could be a part of my army" he told him in his deep robotic voice "Would you be interested in world domination?"

"I usually prefer to work alone" said Negan with a smirk "but I do get what's it like having someone that pisses you off"

"Hmmm" drawled Megatron "I believe you and me could get along very well. If you ever want an army, come find me and together we will destroy the earthlings" he laughed with his deep voice "After we kill Optimus of course" he added conspirationaly. 

"I will keep it in mind" told him Negan, feeling secretly proud that Megatron considered him for global domination.


	7. Chapter 7

Αfter eating their delicious pizzas, Rick, Daryl and the kids left the restaurant to continue their walk. 

"Dad look at those hats!" said Carl excitedly. There was a game that you had to shoot arrows in order to win a sheriff's hat that looked a lot like Woody's. 

"I really want one but my perspective sucks" he continued disappointed. 

"Maybe I can win" said Daryl. He had faith he could get a hat for Carl. 

They approached the booth and there was a blonde girl around her 20s.

"Hi!" said she with a bright smile "I'm Beth, who would like to play?"

Daryl was stunned by this girl that found great difficulty to form words. 

"Erm I will" he said at last shyly. 

She smiled at him and gave him a bow and three arrows. 

"All three have to get in the middle of the board" she explained. Daryl couldn't take his eyes off her though. 

"Are you ready?" she asked eventually. 

Daryl's cheeks got red from embarrassment but he nodded. 

"Come on Daryl" said Rick to lift him up. "You can do this"

Daryl took the bow in his hands and pointed at the board. He had used a bow once more in his life but he was confident he could do this. He took the first one and it hit precisely in the center and the other two arrows followed right behind the first one. 

Rick and Carl cheered and clapped.

"Wow that was amazing" said Beth "you could might as well be an archer"

Daryl got embarrassed once again but gave her a smile. 

"Here is your prize" she told them as she gave the sheriff's hat. "Hope I see you again around here" 

"Sure..." answered Daryl smiling like an idiot but he really liked this girl. 

She waved at them as they left. 

Carl put the hat on his head. 

"How do I look?" he questioned. 

"Like a sherrif deputy" smiled Rick, it looked great on Carl. "So where are we going now?" he said. 

Carl looked at one of the Park's maps. 

"How about the Star Wars attraction?" he questioned. 

"It should be nice" answered Rick "but what about Judith? She is too young to enter"

"I can stay with her" offered Daryl "either way she will be tired walking around. Go with Carl and we will meet again"

"Ok" agreed Rick "Judith be good with uncle Daryl" he said as he gave her a hug. 

Daryl lifted her in his arms. 

"Would you like an ice cream?" he asked. 

"Ice cleamm!!!!" answered she excitedly. 

Rick laughed to himself as they walked away. 

"Let's go fight the dark force" he said to Carl as he messed with his hair. 

\---  
The lines for the attraction were big as it was one of their most popular ones. There were two spaceship simulators and you were fighting an opponent team that was in the other one like you were in the galaxy. The line finally moved on and there was another family to enter before them when the staff member said that their kid wasn't high enough to enter. Rick and Carl moved to the side as the family left muttering something about it being "unfair". The staff member motioned them to come instead. 

"That is awesome!" said Rick as they entered the spaceship simulator. "Do you want to fly it or me?"

"I'll take the secondary controllers" answered Carl as he sat on the passenger's seat. 

"Alright, let's do this" Rick said as he sat down as well. 

The room got darker and suddenly the Star Wars theme started playing. A galaxy appeared on the screen in front of them. 

Rick used the controller to fly them avoiding several meteroids that came their way. Suddenly a big dark spaceship started shooting lasers at them. Rick rotated the controler to the left to avoid them. 

"Fire at them Carl" said Rick determined to win them. Carl did so but they dodged all their shoots. Suddenly they saw a big explosion on the screen and the simulator rocked them to their seats. "Game over" wrote the screen. 

"What?! How did they manage to destroy our spaceship and we couldn't?" said Rick angrily. 

"I have no idea dad..." drawled Carl disappointed that they lost as well. 

"Well that game sucked" said Rick frustrated as he stood up. 

"Anyway..." said Carl "at least the graphics were good"

They got out of the simulator when Carl noticed their opponent team leaving as well and his eye caught a very familiar leather jacket. 

"Yeah we destroyed them!" he heard Negan saying to Simon. 

"This can't be happening" thought Carl "maybe I'm hallucinating..." He tried to avoid his dad coming their way but it was too late. He had heard them. 

"What the hell are you doing here?!" he demanded as he crossed his arms in front of him. 

Negan and Simon stopped talking and looked at them. 

"We should be asking the questions" he told them as he crossed his arms as well. 

Rick pinched the bridge of his nose to control himself and not strangle him. 

"You want to tell me that we all had the same idea to visit the park? Many coincidences don't you think?"

"You are just pissed off that we destroyed your spaceship" intervened Simon. 

Rick gave him an angry glare. 

"That is not the point" he stated. 

"Either way we don't talk to losers, sorry Rick" he chuckled. 

"Stay away from us" Rick ordered. 

"Sure thing" he drawled as he took Carl's hat and tossed it without a care somewhere behind him and made a show of turning his back to them and taking Simon with him. 

"What an asshole" said Carl as he picked his hat from the floor and undusted it. 

"Yeah..." muttered Rick "he is"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, hope you like it so far


	8. Chapter 8

The night was starting to roll in and Rick and Carl decided to get back to the hotel as the weather was getting pretty cold as well. Daryl had already returned and was putting Judith to sleep since she got tired. 

"Do you enjoy the trip so far?" asked Rick as they were close to the entrance. 

"Of course dad" answered Carl "I'm glad we can spend some time together"

"Same" said Rick as he gave him a hug. They entered the hotel when they heard a booming laughter coming from the bar. Who was making so much noise? 

Rick saw Negan and Dwight sitting by the bar and having a drink. 

"Go up to our room Carl" he said ,as his nerves felt like they would explode. 

"But dad-" answered Carl ,afraid that they would kill each other. 

Rick sighed. 

"It's fine. I just want to have a talk with them, that's all" 

"Ok..." drawled Carl as he left to go to their room. 

Rick approached them from behind. 

"...and then we fired at them..." he heard Negan saying as he and Dwight laughed, at their expense apparently. 

"Very funny" said Rick coldly. 

Negan dropped the smile as he and Dwight turned to look at him. 

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. 

"We are having a drink as you can see" answered Dwight. 

"No, I mean what are you doing in this hotel particularly"

"We live here" answered Negan. These meetings were fun at first but now they were becoming very annoying. They couldn't have a talk and Rick with his family would pop up. 

They starred angrily at each other. 

Rick decided to just leave. There was nothing more he could say to them. 

"Goodnight to you too Rick" said Negan sarcastically. Rick's hands turned to fists but he just walked away. 

Negan grabbed his drink and drunk it all at once. 

"We can leave you know" said Dwight "Noone is forcing us to be staying in the same place"

"And give this prick the satisfaction he kicked us out?" demanded Negan "I'm gonna make his life a living hell before I do that" 

Negan could be so stubborn. Sure, Rick and his family had been annoying all day, starting from their flight but Negan should relax as well. He was making the situation way worse by insulting Rick and his kid all the time. Rick on the other hand was so sure that Negan was the definition of pure evil that he couldn't see past that. 

"Shall we go to sleep?" asked Negan. 

"Yeah..." answered Dwight as he finished his drink as well "let's go"

\----

It was morning and Rick, Daryl, Carl and Judith were at the dining hall for breakfast. 

"What are we going to do today?" questioned Rick as he ate a croissant from his plate. 

"I am gonna go see Beth" answered Daryl as he got a bit embarrassed when Rick gave him a knowing glance. 

"I think I'm gonna chill out a bit, read some comics" said Carl as the hotel had a beautifully decorated Christmas lounge. 

"So this leaves you and me" said Rick to Judith. He could take her to the toddler's games and attractions so she could have fun as well. 

"Yeah!" yelled she happily as she clapped her hands. 

They finished their breakfast and him, Judith and Daryl got up to leave. 

"Call me if you need something" said Rick. 

"Ok dad" answered Carl "have fun Judy" as he gave her a hug. 

\---  
Carl was sitting by a cozy fireplace reading an Iron Man comic. He was so drawn to the story that he didn't notice someone approaching him. 

"I am your father Carl" said a deep voice behind him as Carl jumped scared. He turned his head and saw none other than Negan wearing Darth Vader's mask. 

Negan chuckled and removed the mask. 

"Got ya" he said with a huge grin. 

"Ha. Ha" drawled Carl unuamused "hilarious"

Negan left the mask by the table and sat on the chair next to Carl's. 

"What do you want Negan?" he sighed as he closed the comic. 

"To get to know you Carl" answered Negan "I get that you were unfortunate enough to have Rick as a father ,but I want to get to know the kid behind the serial killer front"

"There is nothing to "Get to know" answered Carl as he tried to avoid him. 

"Comeee on Carl. Think of the fun we can have together. Star Wars is boring despite the fact that we beat you. Bet there are countless games your dad didn't let you to go to. If only there was an adult who was willing to take you to those games" he said innocently. 

Carl looked at him trying to understand why he would offer such thing. 

"...and why would you do something like that? Out of the kindness of your heart?" he questioned. 

"Heavens no" Negan answered with a huge smirk "I'll admit that 20% is about getting back at your dad"

Carl gave him an unimpressed glare. 

"Ok" Negan said "maybe a 40%, but hey the rest of the percent is about spending some time with you and have fun"

Carl sighed as the glint on Negan's eyes meant that he was not gonna drop it. 

What's the worse that could happen? 

"Fine" answered Carl hesitantly feeling like he just made a deal with the devil.


	9. Chapter 9

"That is what I'm talking about!" said Negan with excitement.

In front of them was a rusty fence with a sign that was saying "NO TRESPASSING. Violators will be prosecuted", behind that was the most miserable looking grass Carl had ever seen and in the middle of it all was a house that looked like it would collapse at any moment. It was apparently an attraction for the movie " It".

"So what do you think?" asked Negan with a grin. 

"Ermm" drawled Carl "isn't this franchise about a kids murdering clown?"

"Yeah, Pennywise" answered Negan "haven't you seen it?"

"Ermmm no, I'm not old enough and I hate clowns" said Carl as he crossed his arms recalling some traumatic experiences he had with clowns in birthday parties. Not to mention a sadistic clown that liked to kill kids. Of course Negan would choose something like that. 

"Come on Carl" said Negan exasperated "there are no murderous clowns hiding in the sewers ready to kill unsuspected kids, it's nothing more than a haunted house"

"This place looks like it's gonna collapse" said Carl worried as he bit his lip. 

"It's just the design" said Negan "plus I bet your dad's friend Daryl would love it, he seems like he would live in such places"

Carl was ready to turn his back and leave after hearing Negan insulting Daryl. 

"Look if we go, we will do something you want after that" said Negan trying to persuade him. 

"Anything?" questioned Carl raising his eyebrow. 

"Yeah" sighed Negan "anything you want. Plus I'll buy you whatever food you want" 

Carl was never one to say no to free food ,but then again this attraction seemed scary. His dad would never let him go to such game.

Negan was looking at him, eagerly awaiting his answer. He should deny and get out of there but then again he always had an urge to do things that were forbidden to him by his dad and this was his chance to prove that he was brave enough. 

"Fine, let's go inside" said Carl despite the fact he was already anxious. 

\---  
A quarter later they exited the attraction and Carl was not feeling well. They gave them each a red balloon, "a gift from Pennywise" as they said. The house was worse than Carl had imagined. There were decapitated body parts and other freaky things. Pennywise was holding a kid that was screaming and had eaten his arm. Other monsters appeared from doors to "catch them". Negan had been laughing, taking nothing seriously but he was scared shitless. He was too afraid to admit it though since Negan would think he was weak. He would be having nightmares that night. It was nowhere close to the magical feeling that the day before Christmas should have. 

"That was great" said Negan as he looked at his red balloon. 

"hm" answered Carl as he didn't think he could say anything else right now. 

"Told ya it would be fun" told him Negan with a grin "your turn now kid. Shoot what you wanna do"

Carl's mind was screaming to go to something lighthearting as he still had these freaky images. He saw the Simpsons ride on their left. 

"I want to go there" he said. 

"Alright, Simpsons it is"

The game was essentially a rollercoaster but you were wearing VR glasses and saw the Simpsons characters saying funny things to each other. 

Bob: "A dish served cold" 

Homer: "Is it ice cream?"

Bob: No! Revenge! 

Carl laughed, this ride proved to be a good distraction from what Negan had put him through. 

The ride finished and they exited. There was a canteen next to the ride that was making the Simpsons doughnuts with the sprinkles. 

"I found what I want to eat" said Carl as he pointed at the canteen. 

Negan had hopes he would forget his offer, but who was he to say no to doughnuts? 

They took one each and sat down at one of the park's benches. 

"You never told me about your mother" said Negan as he looked at him. 

Carl was in the middle of a bite and he felt it like ash in his mouth at the mention of his mother. 

"Why do you want to know?" he questioned as forced himself to swallow. 

"I'm curious why your dad got so angry" he said as he took another bite. 

"He tends to get angry when you insult his family" told him Carl as he frowned. 

"It's not just that and you know it"

Carl felt like he would tear up. 

"She's gone" he chocked out. It would ruin the doughnut if he cried above it. 

Negan felt a pang of guilt. He shouldn't have forced Carl to tell him. 

"I'm sorry kid..." he said apologetically. 

Carl let out an awkward chuckle to hold himself and not cry in the middle of so many people passing by. 

Negan gave him several light pats on the shoulder to comfort him. He was wrong of saying to Rick that she left him for a boyfriend and abandoned the kids. If someone told him the same about Lucille he would probably have the same reaction. 

An awkward silence fell between them after that. 

Carl finished his doughnut and they stood up. 

"I have an idea" said Negan "how about we go to the Incredible Hulk's rollercoaster?" as he showed him not so far away from them probably the tallest rollercoaster of the whole park. Almost as intimidating as Hulk himself. 

Carl swallowed dryly but he had already shown enough weakness for one day. 

"Let's go" he said with determination.


	10. Chapter 10

The staff members strapped them to their seats and Carl was panicking once again. 

"Whoa this should be fun" said Negan as he gave him an encouraging smile. 

Carl nodded but he didn't think it would be fun after all. The ride begun and it was going slowly at first. 

"Maybe this is not going to be so bad" thought Carl. That until the train got to the highest top and dropped with it's maximum speed downwards. After that it only got worse as it had many dangerous turns and even flipped them with their heads facing the ground. By the time it stopped, Carl had lost all his calmness. 

The staff members removed the straps and Carl got up with great difficulty. Negan was saying something to him but he wasn't listening. He saw a sign to the bathrooms and started running towards them. 

"Carl!" he heard Negan shouting but he wasn't feeling well at all. Negan ran after him. What the hell was wrong with the kid, he thought. 

Carl entered the public restroom and ran to a bathroom stall locking the door behind him. 

He started vomiting as he felt his stomach hurting. So much for wanting to be brave. 

Negan entered the restroom and heard Carl vomiting. He sighed. He was so screwed. 

He tried to open the door but it was locked. 

"Carl please open the door" he said but was met with Carl throwing up once again. 

Negan sighed as he rested his head against the door. 

That moment the door opened and Daryl got in. 

He was definitely screwed now. 

"What are you doing here?" asked Daryl, not happy to meet Negan again. 

"Nothing" said Negan "just waiting to use the bathroom" as he tried to cover his tracks. Just in time, Carl was heard again. 

"Who is in there?" Daryl demanded to know ,raising his eyebrow. 

It was futile to try to hide any longer. Daryl would figure it out. 

"Carl" admitted Negan with a sigh. 

Daryl's eyes widened. 

"What is he doing with you?" he said angrily. 

Carl opened the door and was white as a sheet of paper. He had lost all his color and was very pale. 

"I'm feeling cold" he said with a trembling voice. Negan felt awful. He shouldn't have pressured him to go to such games. 

"Oh my God Carl" exclaimed Daryl as he saw him in this state "you look horribly"

"He needs to see a doctor" said Negan. 

"No shit Sherlock" told him Daryl as he took Carl gently and exited the restrooms. 

"Why are you coming with us?" Daryl demanded as he saw Negan following him. 

"I need to make sure the kid is gonna be ok" he told him exasperated. 

Daryl groaned. 

\---

"Severe motion sickness and a panic attack" said the doctor as Carl threw up once again. 

Daryl looked at Negan with a murderous glare. 

"I will have to keep him to the park's medical center overnight. He has lost a lot of fluids"

"But doctor it's Christmas Eve" said Daryl. 

"It's either that or risking him getting worse" answered the doctor "There have been a lot of teens who couldn't stomach such games. It's the adults responsibility to see if they will allow them or not" he told them as he gave Carl a pill to help him feel a bit better. 

"Rick is definitely gonna kill you" said Daryl "and you will be the one to explain everything. Not me"

Like Negan wasn't feeling like crap already. Now Rick would definitely not let him get close to Carl again. This had to be his worst Christmas Eve ever.


	11. Chapter 11

Daryl left the room to go call Rick as Negan hurried behind him. 

He pulled his phone out and started dialling Rick's number. 

"Please Daryl, I'm begging you" said Negan in an attempt to stop him. 

"What do you want Negan?" questioned Daryl annoyed. 

"Don't tell Rick that it was me who got Carl sick" he begged. 

"You want me to lie now?" demanded Daryl as he got ready to press the call button. 

"No-" started Negan "I mean yes, in a way...I'm really sorry about what happened. Carl is a really good person, way better than I'll ever be"

"Something we agree on" said Daryl as he crossed his arms. 

"Right" swallowed Negan hard looking at the floor "I didn't want him to get sick. If you tell Rick, he will never let me get close to you all again" he said as he felt his eyes stinging. 

"Maybe that would be the best" told him Daryl as he frowned at him. 

"I will do anything you want Daryl, just please don't tell him" said Negan as he let some tears fall from his eyes "I will admit I'm an asshole, who doesn't think about the consequences but I want what you guys have. A family, friendship..." he chocked out. 

Daryl didn't know what to say to all that. A part of him felt bad seeing him like that, but the other half didn't know how to trust him. 

"If Carl wants to never see me again, I'll stay away, but let him decide. That's all I'm asking" Negan said in a pleading tone. 

Daryl looked at his mobile phone and sighed as he looked at him.

"Anything I want?" he asked. 

"Yes anything" answered Negan sincerely "just please don't tell him the truth"

"You will not insult any of us from this point and on. If I hear an insult coming from your mouth, I will tell him everything without hesitation"

"You have a deal..." said Negan as he whipped the tears from his eyes. 

\---  
"He got bored at the hotel and thought to try some rides on his own" said Daryl to a very worried Rick. Some colour had returned to Carl's face and he had fallen asleep. 

"...and what is he doing here?" questioned Rick as Negan was outside of the room looking out of a window. He was very different than usually. Looking sad and serious. 

"He saw him throwing up and got him to the doctor. Then he found me" said Daryl feeling very weird lying to Rick. He just wished it was worth it and that he wouldn't regret it. 

Rick looked at Negan surprised that he helped his kid. 

"Look" said Daryl "I know that he is pale but by tomorrow he will be well again. Just some motion sickness, it's nothing to worry about"

Rick moved some hair out of Carl's left eye as he felt his sweaty face. 

"I will take Judith to the hotel" said Daryl "she has to eat something" as he picked her up. Rick nodded and he left him alone in the room. As he passed by Negan, he gave him a glare. Negan couldn't believe that Daryl would actually do what he asked but he was grateful he did. Rick stood up and walked to him. 

"I-" started Rick awkwardly "thank you"

"Don't thank me Rick" he said as he shaked his head. If only he knew the truth he would be calling the police on him now, not thanking him. 

Rick sighed as they both starred out of the window.


	12. Chapter 12

Νegan had over twenty missed calls and texts on his phone from Dwight and Simon asking where he had been all day, he texted them that he was ok ,but he wasn't in the mood to go back to the hotel just yet. He walked around aimlessly, thinking of Carl. He never had a kid with Lucille, then the cancer happened to her and then she was gone. Now all he was left with, was the bitterness of the past. The decorative mood of the park felt like it was mocking him. Maybe he should indeed go back home and spend the New Year's Eve alone, like always. 

He sat miserably at a restaurant and ordered his favourite food, Spaghetti. He should just change his ticket online and return home. Yeah, that would be the best, he thought. 

"...and now a very special Christmas gift for our friends at the park, that we are sure you are gonna love" said a female from the restaurant's speakers. It was a radio programme apparently. "This is your last chance to win exclusive VIP tickets to meet and greet some of the cast of Harry Potter, tomorrow Christmas Day and live a wonderful experience with your family and friends at Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter. For a chance to win text us your name and your number. You have five more minutes until the system closes, so we highly suggest you to text us now!"

The freaking cast of Harry Potter?? Carl would love something like that. That would be his chance to offer him something that he would like instead of forcing him to do things he didn't want to. He pulled out his smartphone quickly and texted the required information as he kept his ears on the radio. 

"Just one more minute left and one lucky guest will win this amazing gift, that we would be jealous to have as well if you ask us" joked the producer. 

"Come on, come on" Negan thought. 

"Ok so it seems like we have a winner" they announced "the person who won the VIP tickets is..."

"Please be me, please be me, please be me" he thought repeatedly in his mind. 

"...and the lucky person who wins is...Negan! Congratulations Negan! You are the one to win exclusive VIP tickets for a meet and greet with the Harry Potter cast! " said the producer. 

"Yeah!" Negan let out loud turning some people's heads to look at him but he didn't care. He had won the tickets and he was gonna gift them to Carl. He paid his food and got up. He had half an hour before the shops closed for the night but it would be enough to buy what he wanted. 

\---  
Rick yawned as he opened his eyes. He had spend all night sleeping by Carl's bed. That was definitely not the way he thought they would spend their Christmas morning. He couldn't get himself to be mad at Carl. He just made a mistake, there was no point in making him feel worse since he had already gotten sick. 

Carl woke up as well as he cleared his eyes. He seemed way better now. 

"Hey" Rick told him as he stood up above him as he gave him a smile "Merry Christmas, how are you feeling?"

Carl looked at him and was confused to not see him angry. Then again a lot could have happened when he was sleeping. What if he had killed Negan?! Carl thought horrified. He knew he was responsible for the most part but he didn't want him to get hurt by his dad. 

"Merry Christmas..." he drawled "I'm much better. Do you know what happened?"

"There is no need to explain yourself Carl-" Rick told him to comfort him. 

Explain himself? So he didn't blame Negan? 

"Is Negan ok?" Carl questioned. Rick got confused by the question. 

"Yeah he was here yesterday after he brought you to the doctor"

So he didn't know the truth. That it was Negan who took him to these games. Carl contemplated telling him but then there was a knock on the door. 

Rick looked at Carl with confusion. Maybe it was Daryl dropping by to see them. 

He opened the door and saw a guy holding a box.

"Mr... Grimes?" he asked as he checked his papers. 

"Yes that's me" Rick answered. 

"This is for your son as the delivery is mentioning" said he as he handed him the box. Rick took it feeling very confused. Who could be sending Carl this box? 

"Just sign here that you received it and we are ready" said the man as he handed him a pen. 

Rick did hesitantly. 

"Who is it from?" he asked before the courier left. 

"Hmm as I see the senderer chose to remain anonymous" he answered. 

Anonymous? Who was sending out boxes anonymously? 

"Ok.. Thank you" said Rick as he walked back into the room. 

"This is for you apparently" Rick told him as he showed him the brown paper box. It looked quite big. 

"For me?" questioned Carl raising his eyebrow "by who?"

"They didn't give their name, whoever the senderer is"

"Let's open it" drawled Carl thinking that someone was making a joke. 

When he removed the protective tape the first thing he saw was an envelope. He took it out first. 

"Congratulations! You have won exclusive VIP tickets for a meet and greet with the Harry Potter cast at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!" the letter was saying "Christmas Day, at 19:00" 

Carl was dumbfounded. Harry Potter was one of his most favourite films of all time. To meet the Harry Potter cast would be a dream and this letter was saying that he won VIP tickets for exactly that. And indeed in the same folder were three tickets that looked like they were for Hogwarts Express that were saying about the event. He looked back at the box and there were three very warm and cozy Gryffindor sweatshirts. One for Rick, one for him and a small one for Judith and they all wrote "Grimes" on them. Plus three scarfs at Gryffindor's colors. At the bottom of the box there was another piece of paper that wrote "The bravest are prized far beyond the rest". Carl handed the letter to his father who raised his eyebrows when he read it plus checking out the other gifts that the box contained. 

"You did that?" questioned Carl. 

"No" said Rick "I never took part in any competition to win VIP tickets and I didn't buy all these..." referring to the sweatshirts and scarfs, although they looked amazing. 

"Well someone wanted us to go" said Carl "can we please go?" he begged. It would be amazing. 

Rick looked at him. 

"If you are feeling better of course yes, this is great" he said as he took in his hands the red sweatshirt. "Wonder who got into so many expenses" Rick told him. 

Carl looked at the Gryffindor's quote and he had someone in mind who might have been behind all that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cast of Harry Potter has been to Universal some years ago so that's where the idea came from , don't know if Carl would be a Harry Potter fan ,but don't see why not. He would definitely be a Gryffindor though I believe 😅 Hope you like the story so far and thank you for the comments!


	13. Chapter 13

"Sherry wants me to go home for New Year's" said Dwight with a sigh. He didn't feel guilty for Sherry wanting to spend that time with him, but he did for Negan because they had planned it to go to New York. Not only that but Simon would be going home with him as well. It's not that they didn't have fun these days that they had been stuck and they couldn't follow their original plans, but Negan was more focused on Grimes than spending time with them. That didn't mean he deserved to be left alone but if Sherry wasn't ok with spending the holidays alone, then he should return. 

Negan didn't feel particularly surprised by the news but it still hurt. 

"Are you mad?" Dwight asked as Negan wasn't saying anything. 

"No Dwight, of course not. Your family should come first and I'm not one to be judging your decisions. I understand both yours and Simon's decisions if you want to fly back home"

"What are you going to do though?" Dwight questioned. 

Negan let out a deep sigh. Just because Rick talked to him once without being angry at him (and just because of a lie ,he may add) , it didn't mean that they liked him now or that they wanted to spend time with him. He was sure of it. That was one of the main reasons why he didn't tell them directly it was him who won the tickets so they could all go together. He had been thinking what Daryl had told him and maybe it would be indeed for the best to stay away from them. Still going back home and spending New Year's in this empty house, it made him depressed. 

"I will go to New York" he said eventually "there are so many things to do there. It's just a couple days after all"

"We will meet when you come back then" told him Dwight as he gave him a hug "and I'm sorry..."

"Don't be" answered Negan as he gave him a hug as well "there are still many things we haven't done in the park, how about we go do them?" he questioned with smirk. If it was their last day they may as well have fun. 

\----  
Negan was waiting for the bus. Simon and Dwight had left two hours ago to catch their flight. He had to go to the airport as well but the Park's bus was delaying for some reasons. Suddenly he heard a car's horn which he ignored. The horn repeated three times and Negan turned his head to see who was making all this noise and saw Rick waving at him not so far away. Was this a hallucination? Why Rick would be waving at him? Not only that but he motioned him to come to the car. He frowned but he decided to go see what he wanted. Him, Carl and Judith were wearing the sweatshirts he gifted them. 

"Everything ok?" he said as he walked closer. 

"Get in" answered Rick as he walked by his side to take the suitcase. 

"Why?" questioned Negan as he refused to let go of the handle. Like it was something very complicated that he couldn't grasp in his mind. 

"Because we have a car and we are all going to the same place" he explained and he grabbed his suitcase without even asking a second time. 

Negan got in the car hesitantly waiting for him to say that he was only joking. At that back of the car was Judith, Rick's adorable baby girl who was babbling excitedly and Carl who was looking at him intensely. 

"Hey kid" he said "how are you feeling now?"

"I'm much better" he said as he continued to stare at him. 

"I'm glad to hear it" he answered as Rick re entered the car. 

"Where is Daryl?" he questioned as suddenly he realised he was nowhere to be seen. 

"He decided to stay in the park since he met a girl and he will spend New Year's with her" Rick told him. 

"Where is Dwight and Simon?" asked Carl. 

"They went back home" he answered almost expecting to hear mocking laughs that he would go to New York all alone. "Nice sweatshirts" he said casually. 

Rick's mood brightened at that. "Yeah they are awesome"

"Someone gifted them to us, wonder who it was" Carl said as he cleared his throat. 

Negan gave him a look from the car's mirror. The kid knew. He wondered why he still hadn't given him away to his dad. 

The rest of the drive to the airport was mostly silent. Negan didn't know what to say when he usually couldn't shut up about things. They arrived at last and they waited in line to check in their suitcases. Rick moved on to do so with Judith in his arms and Negan found the opportunity to speak to Carl alone. 

"I know, that you know" he said to him. 

"About what?" Carl asked confused. 

"Why haven't you said to your dad what happened?" he questioned as his hazel eyes focused on him. 

Carl sighed. 

"There is nothing to say. I'm not mad at you. Because of your gift, I got to spend a wonderful experience with my dad and sister. Not to mention the scarfs, the quote etc. This for you from Harry Potter himself" Carl said as he pulled out a green scarf from his backpack that was accompanied with a signed note that was for him. 

"I-" said Negan feeling emotional "thank you kid"

He tried it on. 

"Slytherin?" asked he with a smirk. 

Carl laughed. "Of course! You know you are a Slytherin Negan, but I'm starting to realise that there is a Gryffindor inside you as well" he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the story so far👍 7 more chapters to go!


	14. Chapter 14

Rick saw Negan joking with Carl and he bit his lip . He couldn't deny that Negan was very handsome. With his black silk hair, his hazel eyes, even the leather jacket that he never said goodbye to. He recalled their first meeting and laughed at the absurdity of it all. If someone had told him that he would find a person that accused them of stealing his seat attractive, he would have thought they were crazy. But here he was now, some days later, feeling like Negan had changed these days. He clearly liked his kids a lot and that enough was a very positive thing for Rick. They needed someone who would show them some love after losing Lori. The problem was if Negan felt the same way as he did. He had to find excuses to spend more time together. 

He walked back to them and Negan looked at him in the eyes. Carl had insisted to buy Negan a gift for helping him the other day and somehow the green scarf with the snake emblem, made him look even better. They were three Gryffindors and a Slytherin. Rick rolled his eyes at the thought of what sight they made. 

"Everything ok dad?" Carl asked. 

"Yeah, we are good to go to our gate" answered Rick. 

Negan walked with them but only because they were going to the same gate and it would be awkward if they were walking apart. As soon as they arrived at New York, he would be out of their hair. Maybe Rick felt obligated to be civil with him since he thought he had been nice to his kid. He had a tendency to push people away. Who would want to be with him anyways? Lucille was the exception. Yet he had caused her so much pain. Cheating on her and being an asshole most of the time. Instead of him getting a punishment though, she was the one punished and despite all that she still stayed with him to the end. Rick was so different and yet so similar with Lucille. He was not afraid to confront him and tell him where he was wrong. The guy was raising alone two kids, that alone was badass in Negan's mind. He wasn't for him though, he was sure that he would ruin him and Rick didn't deserve that. 

The sky outside had turned very cloudy and it was raining. At least they didn't have to deal with snow again. They showed their passports and got on the plane. They were at different rows this time. 

"So... Have a good flight" said Negan as he looked at Rick, Judith and Carl. 

"Yes" answered Rick "let's hope that it is good"

Negan looked like he wanted to say something more but opted not to. He gave them a nod and moved on to find his seat. Rick watched him go and wished he could sit with them but that wasn't possible. He sat down, hugging Judith who had gotten tired. 

"I forgot to do something" said Carl as he stood up "I'll be right back"

Negan was by the window as he found out. At least he could enjoy the view he guessed. He sighed and sat down as the plane would be taking off shortly. 

"I forgot to give you something" said Carl who appeared suddenly by his row. 

Negan looked at him as he handed him a bag. 

"Be seeing you Negan" he told him as he gave him a smirk. 

"Same kid..." answered he confused of what he had given him. Carl returned to his seat and he checked the bag. 

It had ten comics inside different from the ones he had stolen from him the other time. He smiled to himself as he opened one with Captain America and started reading it.This flight would be much better now.

"Everything ok?" asked Rick as Carl returned. 

"Yeah, everything good" answered Carl as he sat down and strapped himself "can't wait to see New York"

"You are gone love it" said Rick with a smile "We will have a good time, I promise you"


	15. Chapter 15

"Ladies and gentlemen very shortly we will be landing to JFK International Airport, the weather outside is sunny. We wish you all to have a Happy New Year and to see you in one of our flights in the future"

"We are here!" said Carl excitedly. 

"Yes, finally" agreed Rick as he looked outside but his mind was elsewhere. On one hand he was happy that they finally arrived to the place they wanted to go to in the first place, but then again New York wasn't a closed off park like Universal. The chances of bumping into Negan again were slim to none. Not to mention that he felt bad that he was left all alone. At least he had Carl and Judith since Daryl decided to stay in Orlando. He didn't even know if Negan wished to spend more time with them. Maybe he just wanted to spend this time on his own... When did vacations become so complicated? He let out a sigh as the airplane landed followed by the all well known cheers from the passengers. 

He stood up and saw Negan looking at him as he grabbed his backpack from above his seat. Everyone wanted to get out though so Negan turned his back and moved towards the exit of the airplane. Rick watched him go away feeling a sadness overtaking him. 

"Everything ok dad?" asked Carl as he saw him looking sad. 

"Yes, I'm fine. Let's get out of here" he said. 

\---

Negan was biting his lip worried. Would he see Carl, Rick and Judith? "Of course not, you idiot" a voice in his head told him. How would they meet again in a such crowded airport? Then they would go wherever they would be staying and that would be the end. He looked down at the green scarf and he sighed frustrated. This family had wrapped him up around their little finger. His suitcase was nowhere to be seen. Almost everyone had found theirs and his had vanished. Only that he wanted now to get his mood even worse, if they had lost his suitcase. He was ready to go to complain when suddenly he saw it and someone else was holding it. 

"Looking for this?" asked Rick with a smirk. They had already taken theirs and he had his as well. 

He swallowed hard as he looked at him. "Say something Negan, damn you" he thought. 

"Yeah..." he said at last "thank you for getting it" 

"Thank you for getting it? Really Negan?" he groaned internally. 

"Here you are" said Rick as he gave him his suitcase. 

"So...this is goodbye?" questioned Carl trying not to show how sad he was. 

Negan leaned to meet his eyes. 

"Hey" he said "of course not kid. You are not getting rid of me that easily. Who will annoy you like I do?"

Carl was feeling very emotional all of sudden. 

"Noone" he let out with a chuckle trying not to cry. 

"Exactly" answered Negan. He didn't want to say goodbye. 

He looked at Rick and saw him averting his eyes. He wished he could tell him that he wanted to stay but his words couldn't come out. 

"Judith take care of your dad and Carl" he said to her with a sad smile as she giggled softly. 

"Negan I-" started Rick as he looked him in the eyes. His blue ones had a glassiness on them. 

"I'm glad I got to meet you and your family Rick" he said feeling his voice rougher than usual. He had to get out of there soon or he would embarrass himself. 

"Same Negan" Rick answered with hesitation. Negan gave them a nod and he started leaving. He was barely holding it together. 

He had gotten some steps away when Rick called him. 

"Hey Negan" he said as he walked fast towards him. 

"Yeah Rick...?" he answered. 

"Would you like to stay with us? Daryl didn't cancel his room yet. If you would like of course-"

"Yes" Negan answered immediately "I would like it very much" 

Rick's eyes warmed up as he gave Carl a smile ,who was happy as well with the suggestion. 

It definitely wasn't goodbye just yet.


	16. Chapter 16

It turned out that Rick and Daryl had booked two Airbnbs in a boutique hotel. His was one floor down from Rick's, but Negan didn't care at all. Since they would be staying at the same building that's all that mattered plus the room was very cozy and the decor was modern. Rick and Daryl had great taste apparently. Rick went to their room to change Judith and Carl decided to go see Negan. 

"Hey kid!" he said as he opened the door with a big smile. He couldn't hide that he was happy they had all stayed together after all. 

"Do you like the room?" Carl questioned as Negan invited him in. 

"I love it, it's much better than the one I had booked either way. Your dad has great taste" he said. 

Carl eyed him up and down. 

"Yeah, his taste is great in most things" he told him with a smirk. 

"Still believe that you are a little serial killer, you know" answered Negan grinning at him. 

"Why? Because I got mad you ate my cupcake when we first met?" questioned Carl as he raised his eyebrow. 

"Didn't I repay you with doughnut at Universal?"

"Nope" answered Carl empathizing the "p" "because of what you put me through"

"It wasn't that bad" said Negan with a smirk. 

"Are you kidding? Pennywise had been in my dreams..."

"I will tell you what. Next time you see him, tell him that Negan will be coming for him"

Carl chuckled at the thought of that. 

"I'm sure he will be scared"

"He should be" said Negan laughing as well. 

Carl's eye caught a picture on the table of Negan's room. It was a much younger Negan and a beautiful woman by his side. They looked happy. 

"Who is she?" Carl questioned pointing at the picture. 

Negan had been carrying it with him but he usually was hiding it. He wished to avoid questions he didn't want to answer. But Carl was different. He wanted genuinely to know who she was. 

Negan sighed as he grabbed the picture in his hands. 

"My wife Lucille" he answered eventually as he sat down on the bed. Carl sat beside him and looked at the picture. They were on vacation in this photo. He wondered why she wasn't here now with Negan. 

"Why didn't she come with you?" Carl questioned confused. 

"She is not alive" he answered more calmly than he thought he would "she passed away four years ago. Cancer"

Carl felt bad for Negan. He knew how he felt losing his mother. He could imagine how Negan had to be feeling. 

"I'm sorry...-" Carl told him. 

"She was a great person" Negan said "never afraid to call me out on my bullshit. She would have definitely liked you and your dad" 

Carl gave him a small smile as he looked the picture once more. He had never thought that Negan and his dad were so similar after all. 

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Negan put the picture away as he stood up to go open. On the other side it was Rick who had changed clothes on Judith and he was wearing a light blue shirt that highlighted his eyes even more. 

"Hey" he said with a smile "are we gonna go out to see the city or stay inside like old ladies?" he joked as he saw Carl rolling his eyes behind Negan. 

\---  
"I'm not ice skating" said Rick shaking his head negatively. They were at Central Park and they had put a big ice ring. Of course Negan would want to go to and not only that but he wanted Rick to go as well. 

"Small kids are doing it Rick" told him Negan as he showed him so many kids that were flawlessly ice skating. 

"They could be training for the Olympics. They start young, don't they? " drawled Rick as he bit his lip worried. 

"Come on Rick" said Negan exasperated. 

"Ok, ok fine" said Rick "I'll do it. If I break a leg, you will be carrying me around though" 

"I promise" told him Negan with a grin. 

Carl stayed out of the ring to watch Judith as his dad and Negan were putting on their skates. 

Negan stood up with ease while Rick couldn't even get up. 

"Ermm" Rick told him "a little help?" 

Negan chuckled as he helped him on his feet. 

"See this wasn't so bad" said Negan as he was still holding his hands. 

"I'm just standing" answered Rick as he looked him in the eyes. 

"Just keep your legs slightly apart" told him Negan as he let go of one hand to let him try. "Are you ready?" he questioned. 

"Think so" answered Rick as he tried to follow Negan's instructions. 

He slided on his own slightly. 

"This is it" told him Negan with a smile. 

Suddenly Rick lost his balance and fell on top of Negan landing them both on the ice. 

"Ouch" Negan let out as he landed on the hard surface with Rick on top of him. 

"At least I landed smoothly" told him Rick as he laughed at him. 

"Yeah" muttered Negan "thank you for using me as a mattress" he told him with irony "let's try this again, shall we?"


	17. Chapter 17

Rick managed eventually to skate on his own after multiple attempts and falling down. Negan was impatient usually but with Rick he tried to keep calm and teach him how to ice skate without making him feel bad and it turned out they had a great time. 

They sat at a burger house to eat and Negan kept teasing Carl by eating his fries when he wasn't looking. It was hilarious really. At least for Negan. 

"So what job do you do Negan?" asked Rick after Carl told Negan that he would pay for him to get extra fries. 

"I'm a school gym teacher" answered Negan casually. 

"Shut up!" exclaimed Carl. 

Rick groaned, he hated when Carl was cursing. 

"Language Carl!" he told him as he gave him a strict glare. 

"But Dad..." Carl said "You? Teaching in schools?"

"Yeah, told you that I knew a thing or two about kids but you didn't believe me, didn't you?" he smirked. "What are you doing Rick?"

"I am a retired Sherrif Deputy" Rick answered. 

"Mine isn't half as interesting as yours" Negan told him as he grinned "Should have known that behind that mean look, you'd be a sheriff deputy" 

"I didn't take out criminals you know unless you think giving speeding tickets to drunk drivers is as badass" Rick told him. 

"I'm sure they would be scared shitless" answered Negan with a chuckle. 

"Shitless" exclaimed Judith happily. 

Negan, Carl and Rick looked at her. 

"Judith that is a bad word" Rick tried to explain. 

"Shitless" Judith repeated as Carl and Negan laughed. 

"It's not funny!" Rick told them. He didn't want his daughter, that pure creature, to be cursing like Negan. 

"Shitless" she said a third time as Rick let out an exasperated groan. 

\---

After eating they decided to go to see the American Museum of Natural History. 

"Imagine that running towards you" said Negan to Carl as they had been starring at the bones of a big dinosaur. 

"Ermm thanks, but no thanks" answered Carl "I don't need a dinosaur to be added to my already troubled dreams"

Rick had been showing Judith a giant whale that was hanging from the ceiling as he was making animal sounds for her to understand them. 

Negan laughed at the view as he looked at a giant stone statue from Easter Island that was frowning at him. 

"You and me both buddy" he told him.


	18. Chapter 18

The kids had fallen asleep and Negan invited Rick to his apartment downstairs. 

"Here you go" told him Negan with a grin as he brought two big plates of spaghetti and freshly baked bread rolls. 

Rick's eyes widend as he saw the amount of food. 

"How did you manage to make all that so soon?" he asked. 

"Told you I was a pro in cooking" chuckled Negan as he opened a red wine that the owner of the Airbnb was kind enough to have offered. 

"So, bon appetite" Negan said as he tossed with Rick. It felt like a dream sitting with Rick and having a dinner. 

"This is soo good!" exclaimed Rick as he tasted the food "are you secretly a master chef?"

"No" Negan laughed "but I do like to cook"

"I would have never thought when we first met" told him Rick. 

"Yeah..." drawled Negan a bit embarrassed at the thought of how he had acted when they first met. "Sorry about that"

"From accusing us of stealing your seat to making me a delicious dinner" said Rick thoughtfully "seems ideal to me" he joked. 

"You get to enjoy special perks" told him Negan with a smirk. 

"On a more serious note" Rick said as he took a bite of his bread roll "Carl and Judith like you a lot" said he as he looked Negan jn the eyes. 

Negan hummed in agreement. 

"Same for me. They are great kids Rick, not even close to some brats I have in school"

"If Judith starts speaking like you, I'll have to kill you though" told him Rick conspirationally to which Negan chuckled. 

"I will keep it in mind" he nodded. 

They finished eating and they sat at a small balcony that the apartment had with a view to the city. 

"I am glad I'm here with you Rick" Negan told him in a quiet tone to not disturb the peacefulness between them. 

Rick rested his head on his shoulder. 

"I'm glad that you agreed to stay as well. We are gonna have a wonderful New Year's Eve" said Rick as for the first time in years he felt a safety that he had a long time to feel. 

"I promise" told him Negan as he rested his own head on top of Rick's. For the first time he was looking forward to the new year. 

\---  
Negan got up in the morning feeling excited of spending a wonderful day with Rick and the kids. He opted to leave the leather jacket and wore a grey parka instead. He got upstairs to Rick's apartment and knocked. Rick opened the door and he gave him a smile but he saw a hesitation in his eyes. 

"Good morning" said Negan "...everything ok?" he asked. 

"Yeah, no-" started Rick "it's just that Judith had a bit of fever and I can't take her out" Rick admitted with sadness in his voice. 

"Is she ok?" asked Negan worried. 

"Yes just a little bit of fever. Nothing else. Look could you take Carl out instead? It's a shame to stay locked in as well"

"Sure" told him Negan " you don't want any help?"

"No I'll be fine. Go have a good time. We shouldn't all stay in" he told him with a comforting smile. 

"Ok" told him Negan as he felt a bit disappointed that Rick wouldn't be tagging along. His daughter came first though. 

"Carl you will go out with Negan. Have a good time"

"Thank you dad" answered he as he gave him a hug. 

Rick closed the door after he bid them goodbye. 

"Let's go for a ride kid!" told him Negan with a big grin.


	19. Chapter 19

"So what do you want to do kid?" Negan asked since they were left alone for the day. 

"Hmm how about we go see the Statue of Liberty? It is something I wanted to see" said Carl. 

"Yeah that would be great, I have years to see it as well" told him Negan as they started walking to the Christmasy decorated streets of New York. 

"Sad that your dad and Judith couldn't come with us" Negan continued as he thought of Rick that would have to stay at the apartment. 

"There have been many occasions when Judith had been sick and he had to take care of her" said Carl recalling all the things his dad had done for them. "My mother died giving birth to her" he admitted. 

"I am sorry kid" told him Negan as he gave him a pat on the shoulder. He could understand how hard it must have been. 

"Anyways let's not ruin our mood now thinking of the past" he continued "we are supposed to be having fun"

"Yeah" nodded Carl "you never told me why Dwight and Simon didn't come with you. You seemed pretty close"

"We are" answered Negan with a nod "it's just that Dwight is married and his wife Sherry wanted to spend New Year's with him and Simon returned as well. What about Daryl?"

"He met a girl ,Beth when he won that hat that you threw to the ground when we met at the Star War's attraction" told him Carl as he gave him a glare. 

"Yeah sorry about that" he said as his cheeks turned a bit red "you have to admit that we destroyed you that day though" Negan said with a smirk. 

"You got lucky you mean" joked Carl. 

"Whatever you say kid" told him Negan with a chuckle. 

\---  
"Wow that is awesome" said Carl as he looked at the statue from afar. It was huge. And the torch, it was an amazing view. 

"Yes I agree" said Negan with a nod. It was indeed great to look at it. 

"I had visited it with Lucille about six years ago" he told him as the memories came back to him "we even got up to her crown"

"Really?" questioned Carl "this had to be amazing"

"It was" agreed Negan "we were both out of breath though because it had soo many stairs to go up there" he laughed as he rembered himself complaining. 

Carl chuckled at that. "At least it was rewarding at the top" he said. 

"Yeah it definitely was" Negan shook his head in agreement. 

He imagined taking Rick to the top of the statue as well. He believed he would like it very much. He hoped he would be able to spend more time with him the days they had left. 

"Are you excited about the ball dropping at New Year's Eve?" asked Negan. 

"Yes" answered Carl excitedly "but don't know if dad will agree to going, because it will be very crowded..." he sighed. 

"Leave your dad to me" Negan said "this is the most exciting part, we have to go to see the show"

"Yeah, let's hope he agrees after all" answered Carl.


End file.
